Apparatus for attaching strap handles



March 29, 1966 c. FRASIER 3,243,092

APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING STRAP HANDLES Filed June 26, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 "y 2 INVENTOR. l'arzzls 4192572 March 29, 1966 c. FRASIER 3,243,092

APPARATUS FOR ATI'AGHING STRAP HANDLES Filed June 26, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M I 22 1' "I March 29, 1966 c. L. FRASIER 3,243,092

APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING STRAP HANDLES Filed June 26, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3 243 092 APPARATUS FOR Ar'fAcmNo STRAP HANDLES Curtis L. Frasier, Rye, N.H., assignor to The Morley Company, Portsmouth, N.H., a corporation of Maine Filed June 26, 1964, Ser. No. 378,373 3 Claims. (Cl. 22794) This invention relates to apparatus for attaching handles to a sheet of material, such as a strip of ticking to form the side covering of a mattress, and more particularly to apparatus for attaching handles comprising sets of parallel straps with spaces between their opposed edges and necks bridging the spaces to interconmeet the straps in the form of a strip as fully disclosed in the copendin-g application of Clayton S. Spinney, Ser. No. 328,253, filed December 5, 1963.

Objects of the invention are to provide apparatus which simultaneously attaches both ends of each handle at an attaching station, which automatically feeds a strip of handles to the attaching station, which severs the necks between the foremost strap and the next succeeding strap as the foremost strap is attached, which concomitantly trims off the necks so that substantially none of the neck material is left protruding from the attached handles, which is simple and economical to produce, and which is durable and reliable in use.

According to this invention the apparatus comprises a guide for feeding the aforesaid sets to the attaching station edgewise along a predetermined path with the straps extending transversely of the path, a pair of dies on each side of said path at the ends of the foremost handle at the attaching station, a support for each pair of dies, means for producing movement of one of said supports toward the other support to attach the ends of he handles to the sheet, and means associated with one of said supports for severing the necks between the foremost strap and the next succeeding strap during said movement. Preferably the apparatus has means associated with one of the aforesaid supports for trimming off the severed necks during the aforesaid movement, and the severing means and trimming means are on opposite sides of the foremost handle.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention one of the aforesaid supports comprises lower and upper parts, the front part being movable relatively to the upper part from an advanced position to a retracted position, a spring to hold the lower part in advanced position, one pair of the dies being mounted on the upper part, the guide leading to the lower part to feed the foremost handle in front of the aforesaid one pair of dies, the aforesaid means for producing relative movement between the supports first causing the lower part to engage the sheet and then producing relative movement of the parts toward each other against the action of said spring to bring the pairs of dies together with the sheet therebetween. While either of the aforesaid supports may be movable toward the other support, preferably the two-part support is movable back and forth relatively to the other support. While the supports may be spaced in any direction, preferably the two-part support comprises a vertically reciprocating head disposed above the other support. In the preferred embodiment the aforesaid lower part has means for releasably supporting the foremost handle until said one pair of dies resses the handle against the sheet, this means comprising a rotor at each end of the foremost handle, each rotor having its axis extending transversely of said path beyond the end of the handle to rotate between an operative position in which it supports the handle and an inoperative position in which it releases the handle, and means yieldingly to hold the rotor in operative position.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of a strip of handles such as described and claimed in the aforesaid application;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the attaching machine;

FIG. 3 is a section on line 33 of FIG. 2 showing the head in upper retracted position;

FIG. 4 is a similar view showing the head in its lower attaching position;

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 3 showing the head retracted;

FIG. 6 is a similar view showing the head in advanced attaching position;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the lower part of the head viewed from the line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a view of the lower side of FIG. 7 with the foremost handle resting on the lower part of the head; and

FIG. 9 is a similar view showing how the handle is moved past the support on the lower part of the head.

In the strip of handles shown in FIG. 1 each handle comprises a strap A with enlarged ends B interconnected by necks C to hold the handles in spaced relationship so that they can be separated easily. The strip is prefenably for-med in a unitary piece of plastic material as. disclosed in the aforesaid application.

The particular embodiment of this invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comp-rises a frame 1 having a bed 2 over which a sheet of material S may be fed from front to rear in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, from right to left in FIGS. 3 and 4 and from left to right in FIGS. 7 to 9. Disposed beneath the bed 2 are two turrets 3 and 4 rotatable on shafts 6 and 7. Disposed in the upper surface of the turrets are dies 8 and 9 distributed around the peripheries of the turrets. Disposed over each turret is a magazine 11 through which locking rings 12 are fed to the dies.

As disclosed in the Spinney Patent 3,064,264 granted November 20, 1962 the turrets 3 and 4 are stepped around intermittently to bring a pair of locking rings to the attaching station for each operation of the machine.

Mounted on the frame 1 is a support 13 for a cylinder 14 containing a piston with a piston rod 16 which extends from the bottom of the cylinder. Attached to the piston rod is a support comp-rising lower and upper parts 17 and 18, the upper part being fastened to the piston rod 16 by means of screws 19 and the lower part being mounted on the upper part by means of rods 21 and 22 which slide in openings in the support 13. Fast to rods 21 and 22 are collars 23 and 24 and interposed between the lower and upper parts are springs 26 and 27 yieldingly to hold the collars 23 and 24 against the upper part as shown in FIG. 3. Mounted on the upper part are dies 28 and 29 which are opposite to the dies 8 and 9. The dies 28 and 29 are slidably mounted in the upper part 18 and are yieldingly pressed downwardly by springs 31 and 32.

The sets of straps are fed to the lower part 17 through a chute 33, a part of which is shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 and all of which is shown in FIG. 1. The handles feed to the attaching station by gravity and the foremost handle is stopped in attaching position by means of a shoulder 34 on the lower part 17; see particularly FIGS. 5 and 7. The foremost strap is supported in the lower part 17 by means of rotors 36 and 37 which turn from their supporting positions shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 8 to their non-supporting positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 9. The rotors are yieldingly held in supporting position by means of springs 38 (FIG. 7) and are turned to non-supporting position when the foremost handle is forced downwardly by the.

dies 28 and 29. The return of rotors 36 and 37 to supporting position is limited by a stop (not shown) associated with their projecting ends to which the springs 38 are attached.

The means for-severing the necks C comprise cylindrical cutters 39 having cutting edges 41. The cutters are mounted on opposite ends of a bar 42 underneath the lower part 17 which is pressed downwardly by a spring 43 to the retracted position shown in FIGS. 5 and 8. When the head 17 descends the bar 16 engages the sheet 5 as shown in'FIG. 6 and lifts the cutters 39 against the'action of spring 43 to cutting position. Then when the foremost handle is pressed down by the dies 28 and 29 from the position shown -in FIGS. 3, 4 and 8 to the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 the necks C at opposite ends of the foremost handles are severed by'the cutting edges 41.

On the side of the head 17 opposite the chute 33 is a V-shaped cutter 44 which trims off the remaining portion 46 of the neck C when the foremost handle is pressed down by the dies 28 and 29 from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 6.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the operation of the apparatus is as follows. When the head 1718 rises to the upper position shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 the foremost handle in the chute 33 moves into attaching position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 and the turrets 3 and 4 turn one step to bring locking rings under the dies 28 and 29 as described in the aforesaid patent. As the head descends the lower part 17 first engages the strip S and stops. The rear part 18 continues downwardly pushing the foremost handle out of the lower part. As the dies 28 and 29 reach their lower positions the prongs P engage the dies 8 and 9 and are crimped outwardly under the locking rings 12 as fully disclosed in the aforesaid patent. As the foremost handle is pushed out of the lower part 17, the necks C are severed at the rear edge of the foremost handle and the remaining portions 46 of the necks are trimmed olf as above described.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

-I claim:

1; For applying handles of the type comprising sets of parallel straps having their opposite sides in parallel planes and having spaces between their opposed edges, each strap having enlarged ends for attachment to a mattress and an intermediate hand-grip section of lesser width, and severable neck-s bridging said spaces between said enlarged ends, apparatus for affixing the straps to a sheet of material at an attaching station, a guide for feeding said sets to the attaching station edgewise along a predetermined path with the straps extending transversely of the path, a pair of dies on each side of said path at the ends of the foremost handle at the attaching station, a support for each pair of dies, means for producing movement of one of said supports toward the other support to attach the ends of the handles to the sheet, a cutter disposed along said path in advance of each of said pair of dies for severing the necks bridging the spaces between said enlarged ends of the foremost strap and the next succeeding strap during said movement, and means associated with one of said supports for trimming off the severed necks during said movement.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said severing means and trimming means are on opposite sides of the foremost handle.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of said supports comprises lower and upper parts, the front part being movable relatively to the upper part from an advanced position to a retracted position, a spring to hold the lower part in advanced position, one pair of said dies being mounted on said upper part, said guide leading to said lower part to feed the foremost handle in front of said one pair of dies, said means for producing relative movement between said supports first causing said lower part to engage the sheet and then producing relative movement of said parts toward each other against the action of said spring to bring said pairs of dies together with the sheet therebetween.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 400,792 4/1889 Remus 227-95 1,000,755 8/1911 Riebel 22795 3,064,264 11/1962 Spinney 227-18 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. FOR APPLYING HANDLES OF THE TUPE COMPRISING SETS OF PARALLEL STRAPS HAVING THEIR OPPOSITE SIDES IN PARALLEL PLANE AND HAVING SPACES BETWEEN THEIR OPPOSED EDGES, EACH STRAP HAVING ENLARGED ENDS FOR ATTACHMENT TO A MATTRESS AND AN INTERMEDIATE HAND-GRIP SECTION OF LESSER WIDTH, AND SEVERABLY NECKS BRIDGING SAID SPACES BETWEEN SAID ENLARGED ENDS, APPARATUS FOR AFFIXING THE STRAPS TO A SHEET OF MATERIAL AT AN ATTACHING STATION, A GUIDE FOR FEEDING SAID SETS TO THE ATTACHING STATION EDGEWISE ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH WITH THE STRAPS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE PATH, A PAIR OF DIES ON EACH SIDE OF SAIDPATH AT THE ENDS OF THE FOREMOST HANDLE AT THE ATTACHING STATION, SUPPORT FOR EACH PAIR OF DIES, MEANS FOR PRODUCING MOVEMENT OF ONE OF SAID SUPPORTS TOWARD THE OTHER SUPPORT TO ATTACH THE ENDS OF THE HANDLES TO THE SHEET, A CUTTER DISPOSED ALONG SAID PATH IN ADVANCE OF EACH OF SAID PAIR OF DIES FOR SEVERING THE NECKS BRIDGING THE SPACES BETWEEN SAID ENLARGED ENDS OF THE FOREMOST STRAP AND THE NEXT SUCCEEDING STRAP DURING SAID MOVEMET, AND MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF SAID SUPPORTS FOR TRIMMING OFF THE SEVERED NECKS DURING SAID MOVEMENT. 